•A LC–MS2 method was developed for the analysis of phenolics in crude red grape skin extracts.•A Poroshell 120 EC-C18 column was employed for the rapid separation of the phenolics.•10 phenolic acids, 20 anthoxanthins, 12 anthocyanins and 3 stilbenes were achieved in a run time of 26 min.•Five compounds were detected for the first time in Vitis amurensis.A rapid and efficient method was established for the simultaneous determination of structures and configurations for 45 phenolics isolated from crude red grape skin extracts without extensive sample preparation. Separation and compound assignments were achieved using high performance liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detection and tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–DAD–MS2). A Poroshell 120 EC-C18 (100 mm × 3.0 mm, 2.7 μm) column was employed to separate the phenolics, which were eluted using a gradient of acetonitrile and water acidified with 0.2% formic acid. Phenolics were identified by comparison of their UV–vis spectra, mass spectra and MS2 data with those in the literature. Using this procedure, five compounds were detected for the first time in Vitis amurensis. Good separation of most phenolics was achieved in 26 min. The methods described here can be used for the characterization of phenolics in a variety of grapes and grape products.